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Thursday, October 27, 2016

NoQS Minion 6: THE DONOR, YA Cyber Suspense

Title: THE DONOR Genre: Young Adult Cyber SuspenseWord Count: 93,000

My Main Character's Most Stressful Relationship is:Cameron Foster loves his dad, business mogul Nigel Foster, but the guy has this stare, the kind that could make corporate lawyers duck and cover. Words like protective and obsessive don’t convey how much his dad hovers. Having a life? Dating? Nope. Not with Nigel Foster watching. Even Cameron’s vegetarian diet is closely monitored. No burgers, which totally sucks. Sure, it’s because of Cameron’s heart issue, but he wishes his dad would loosen up. That’s part of what drove Cameron to hactivism—even though he doesn’t have much of a life, he can make a difference anonymously behind the screen.

Query:Seventeen-year-old hacktivist, Cameron Foster, has everything the world could offer except a future, thanks to his debilitating heart condition. Though he wants nothing more than to live a little before he dies, his father, business mogul Nigel Foster, is determined to protect Cameron’s health by controlling his every move.

Small town teen hacker Tasha Jenkins hasn’t felt alive since her father was murdered three years, two months, and four days ago. Haunted by her desire for vengeance, she wants nothing more than to use her hacking skills to expose the man responsible…Nigel Foster.

When Tasha meets the charismatic and surprisingly kind-hearted Cameron at a charity benefit, she sees an opportunity for retribution and decides to exact her revenge on Nigel for her father’s death…if she can get Cameron to share insider information on Nigel’s company, Foster Med Corp.

Her plan is sound, but Tasha doesn’t count on one thing—falling for Cameron.

A dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues, and the more Tasha digs, the more she realizes Cameron and his father might be the ones in trouble. Together, Cameron and Tasha will need all their hacking tricks to uncover the truth about a deadly organization far larger and more sadistic than they anticipated. As lies are exposed, people close to them go missing and the two are drawn together. Cameron might be worth more dead than alive. What ethical lines will they cross in order to survive, and are they willing to sacrifice the life of another? The answer might get them both killed.

First 250 words:

Time can’t be bought. But if it could, Cameron Foster IV would order it online in bulk. And he’d use the time to make his mark on the world before it was all over. But each beat of his busted heart reminded him his clock tick-tick-tocked toward the end.

Cameron churned through the pool, finishing his lap. His floating O2 tank bobbed along behind him like a bomb. He grabbed the side of the pool to adjust his oxygen mask and wiped the cool salt water from his eyes. The atrium’s tinted windows cast shadows over the stone flooring and the white brick wall that this room shared with their house. Even the cushions on the deck furniture looked gray in the manufactured gloom. He glanced at the monitor on his wrist. Heart rate and O2 looked good, and he wasn’t short of breath. Maybe this latest round of tests would prove he was getting better.

His dad stepped to the pool’s edge, holding up a portable oxygen backpack. Behind him, the wall clock’s second hand clicked loud enough to be heard over the pool pump. “It’s ten after four, son. Time to get ready for the Foundation event.” His dad’s deep voice reverberated around the room, and his tone suggested arguing would be a mistake.

It was risky to irritate the great Nigel Foster, but Cameron didn’t want to spend the evening suffering through small talk with Foster Med Corp’s business associates. “I told you I’m not going.”